The Love of Coffee: A Letter from Istanbul

Coffeetopia, Eminönü, Istanbul

Flat White, Coffeetopia

Islamic civilization and coffee have a long, loving relationship. It is probably not an exaggeration to state that the world owes its addictive coffee habit to the spread of the cosmopolitan civilization of Islam. Coffee was most likely introduced to the Turks via the port of Mocha in Yemen, then spread by the Sufi orders and merchants throughout the Ottoman lands. Some Muslim jurists, Islam's veritable haram police, faithful to their calling and the usual conservative reflex, issued the rulings banning this new, potent drink, claiming it caused intoxication. While the jurists debated the permissibility of drinking the liquid black gold, Muslim sages, mystics, and masses voted with their lips. "My community will not agree on an error," said the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Vox populi vox Dei, indeed. 

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